


Exalted

by Felacixxi



Category: None - Fandom
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23383663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Felacixxi/pseuds/Felacixxi
Summary: Just read it okay





	1. I

My fingers rhythmically hit the old, worn down keys of my laptop and characters flashed on screen. 

"STUDY: Venus/Mars attraction"

It seemed quite out of place for someone like me to be writing a guide on attraction, since the concept of it was so alien to me. But, somehow it felt right - in fact, this was my favourite part of astrology to cover. 

"We already know that certain planets like certain signs," I typed, "and the same is true for Venus and Mars. These two planets are basically juxtaposed, the former reigning romantic love and arts and the latter reigning sexual love and wants. Like all planets, these two also have signs that they are exalted (made 'happy') in and falling (made 'unhappy') in."

My thoughts wandered to my own chart - admittedly, the worst possible example for a Venus and Mars exaltation. "Capricorn Venus and Pisces Mars, really? Couldn't I have been born a few days earlier to avoid this strange aromantic fate?" I thought solemnly. Maybe this is why I have such rotten luck with finding partners... 17 years old and never experienced a relationship. Most people our age are having sex, what am I doing with my life?

Shaking away my existential thoughts, I continued to write.

"Pisces is the sign of Exaltation for Venus, and Virgo is the sign of Fall for Venus. For Mars, it is exalted in Capricorn and falls in Cancer. However this does not mean that these are the only signs that can perform well with Venus/Mars under their house. For example, Libra and Taurus are noted to perform well under Venus as they are ruled by the planet. Scorpio and Aries tend not to perform well under Venus as they are the planet's detriment - meaning that Scorpio and Libra are opposite Taurus and Aries respectively in a chart wheel."

"Jesus, this is complicated. Yet satisfying..." I thought to myself, stretching my fingers before continuing.

"Scorpio and Aries tend to perform well under Mars as they are both ruled by the planet, and Libra and Taurus tend not to as they are the detriments of Scorpio and Aries. So with this information, what can we deduce?"

Glancing down at the corner of my laptop, I saw the time. 8:30. Shit! I was going to be late! Frantically, I threw my bag over my shoulder and ran out the door to school. 13th January 2020 - The moon would transit from Leo to Virgo at seven minutes past two today. "Hopefully I'll be able to work harder once the moon changes..." I thought to myself at the crossing. On the other side, Sofia was waiting with Hailey for me. Jeez, I hope I haven't made them angry. Much to nobody's surprise, Sofia being a Sagittarius means that she can lose her temper sometimes. To this day, I don't know how she puts up with me, she's the most social girl in the world - she could be in anyone's group if she wished. But every time I question her about that she repeats the same thing along the lines of "I'm happy with you guys. I wouldn't change that for the world."

"Dude... you're so late." Hailey looked me up and down as a disapproving parent would, yet no disapproval showed in her hazel eyes. "Come on, let's get to school."

First lesson. History. Ugh. Why did I end up taking this stupid excuse of a subject? I can't even do history. I'm so much more of a maths person anyway, why I didn't take double maths is beyond me. Maybe it was mercury retrograde when I was choosing my options... that's probably it. There's no way I would make such a stupid, misinformed decision otherwise. I took my seat in the classroom next to the same boy I've been seeing for months, yet am too scared to talk to. Fuck it. This lesson's gonna be boring, might as well try and make some new friends. "Hey." He looked at me, looked away and sunk his chin into the desk. "Hey." His voice was raspy like a smoker's, yet had a high, chirpy quality to it. He seemed younger than 17, like a 15 year old trapped in sixth form college. "What's your name?" I asked innocently, and he raised his head to look at me semi-disapprovingly. "Leo." I couldn't help but laugh. "Is your birthday in august or july?" He raised an eyebrow. "Very funny. And no." Still laughing, I pushed on. "Ok, then when is your birthday?" He rolled his eyes. "What's it to you? You're not actually into all that zodiacs bullshit, are you?" Now the tables had turned. My expression had turned to stone, and it was his turn to laugh. How dare he say that? "Excuse me Leo, but the science of astrology should be taken seriously. It is highly accurate and can even predict the future." He grinned and leaned closer to me. "Listen hex master, your witchy little voodoo science cannot predict the future. If you think it can, you're seriously stupid." I grew angry, feeling betrayed. To make a point, I scuffed my chair over to the far side of the desk. He looked me up and down and reciprocated my actions. Jesus, this was going to be a long lesson.

"He's such an ASSHOLE Sofia!" I exclaimed, still furious at how someone could disrespect my beliefs and myself so much. Hailey groaned, sick of my antics. "He has a point, you know. You take this astrology shit too seriously. It'll lead to your downfall one day." Hailey's too stubborn to believe any opinion but her own. But I'll let her live - I'm not going to expel my anger onto those who've done nothing wrong. "Whatever. I'll just get through the rest of this day, and then I'll go home and sleep my anger away." Sofia chuckled. "wow," she said, "what a pisces thing to do. Are you okay?" I let out a laugh at that. Her statement has some truth - Even if my sun sign is Capricorn, I'm a Pisces moon after all. Making my way to second lesson, I mentally prepared myself for the rest of the day. This week was going to be tiring.


	2. II

History was a snooze, as usual. And Leo trying to be edgy right next to be didn't help at all. Sometimes I wonder if that boy actually has problems, or just likes attention. Probably both. This guy reeks of a bad mars placement. Oh, and a scorpio moon. Maybe even a sun opposition mars just to rub salt in the wound. I cringed at the thought. How could someone even have such a bad chart, and as a result a fucked up personality? Did nobody teach them how to self-improve and be sufficient? My train of thought hits the brakes. Why am I thinking so much of this boy? What reason is there for him to be in my head? Quick, think of someone else instead. Like Tom in Physics. Now there's something to think about... such a generous man. He gave me all of his information the same day I asked him, including his birth time down to the exact minute! I'd do anything to have a husband like him. So many men write off astrology as complete bullshit, but he understands. He knows the struggle of a poor, unfortunate woman like myself in this society. Vivimos en una sociedad. Yes, truly.

Laughing at my own shitty meme thoughts, I at least tried to keep my attention on the professor. What were we learning about again? I turned my head to look at Leo's textbook and- woah. My eyes were graced with multiple fine pen ink drawings. Of what, I don't exactly know. "They were as complex as the boy inking them," I thought, before pausing. Leo is not a complex person. He will never be a complex person, he is fake depressed and edgy and probably spends all his time on the tumblr side of tiktok. Yes, that feels better telling myself that. Looking back up at the professor, he proceeded to scribble a bullet point onto the whiteboard. "Genocide in Rwanda," I was able to make out. I sighed and leaned my cheek against my hand. Jesus, this was boring. I don't want to learn about dead africans, I only took history to experience education of the only figures I care about, aka the Greek and roman gods. Don't even try and tell me history is better than mythology. It's not true. You are wrong. Focusing on a seafoam green pencil in the middle of our desk, I rolled it along the smooth coated plastic. Back and forth, back and forth. I rolled it forward too hard, and it rolled off the desk between our chairs onto the carpeted floor. Leo's head turned at the noise of it falling and began to move himself down. Oh god. Oh no. I knew what was about to happen, and I couldn't stop myself from bending down to grab the pencil in accordance with him, this was happening in slow-motion like a jenga tower about to topple, an ice-cream about to fall off its cone, a tightrope walker about to lose their balance...

Then it happened.

My fingers collided with his and immediately I noticed his calloused, scarred hands. His eyes widened and he snatched his hand away, I picked up my pencil. "Your hands," I exclaimed, "what's going on, Leo?" His eyebrows knitted together as he turned away. "Mind your own goddamn business, freak." I sighed and returned to my work, but not before ripping a corner of paper from my textbook and inking numbers over it.

"If you need to talk, I'm here. 0800 555 436"

I don't know why I did it. What drew me to his need is beyond me, but inconsequential. After all, it's good to help someone in need, right?

But why him?

I passed the paper along the desk as the bell sounded to change lessons. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him pick it up, his expression soften and shove the note into his coat pocket. Without a word, he packed up his things and left. I watched him go, zoning out for a second before following. Wow, that was strange. I still had the pencil clutched tightly in my hand. Was it even mine? I don't remember owning a pencil such a vivid shade of turquoise-green. Maybe I borrowed it from Sofia and forgot to return it? Casting my thoughts away, I shoved the pencil in my coat pocket and made my way to my next lesson.

For the rest of the day, I couldn't shake Leo from my mind. His hands, so damaged yet somehow so delicate, his pointed fingers seemed to dance before me as he reached for the pencil. Something about him was very mundane yet different - he shone brightly in a crowd of hundreds. If he walked past you in a clump, you'd only notice him. That kind of magnetic attraction couldn't be easily achieved by just anyone. "No, there are much more powerful forces at play here." I needed to speak to him again. When was he going to text me? Would he text me? What if he doesn't? I needed to know... what if he gets hurt?

Sitting at my desk later that day, my phone buzzed and lit up. I scrambled to it, eager to see if it was Leo, what he had to say, if he was going to ask me to talk about things...

Tom (01766 555 321)

Hey! :) Are we still on for the study session tonight?

Oh. I forgot. Reluctantly, I slumped my fingers over the keyboard to type a reply. "Yep! Come over when you're ready."

Sighing, my forehead made contact with my laptop keyboard. A long string of F's showed on the monitor, ruining my history paper. "What a shame." I thought, "It's probably going to get a better grade this way actually. Hopefully when Tom comes over he'll help me. Maybe he knows a thing or two about History."

Making my way over to my bed, I flopped down over it and stared endlessly at the off-white popcorn ceiling. It seemed to stare back. My eyes closed, and I fell into a light slumber.


	3. III

// LEO POV

"Leo!" I recognized that shrill tone. A small, grinning blonde girl ran towards me as her taller counterpart rolled her eyes and caught up with her. I couldn't help but smile. "Jennifer!" I exclaimed, "How are you?" She stopped not far from me. I could smell her vanilla perfume from where we were standing as I looked her up and down. She wore a mustard fluffy pullover complete with straight leg denim jeans and white nike air forces, held together by a vintage-looking belt. "I'm great! Art was a total bore though. Sorry about the paint stains on my jeans." I chuckled. "I didn't even notice they were there. It’s sad that we’re not in the same art class this year. Come on, let's walk home." She complied, and we made our way along the road. Janis, Jennifer's twin sister, followed beside her. The two, although twins, were polar opposites. Jennifer was the embodiment of youth. Her short stature, slightly chubby body and round face reflected that as well as the clothes she wore - she loved bright, fun colours and patterns and always incorporated vintage aesthetics into her outfit. However Janis was very different. Her style was more like it had jumped out of Twilight - she stuck to dark, moody colours in her wardrobe. She was tall, thin and angular and acted more as a mother to Jennifer than her twin sister, Janis was beyond her years.  
My eyes trailed back to Jennifer, engaging in lively conversation with her twin. I’ve had feelings for her for a while now, if only I could just talk to her... no. She’d turn me down straightaway in the state that I’m in. How could a girl as perfect as her want a nobody like me? I wish I was more popular, then I could have her finally.   
We turned around the corner down the street us three grew up in. So many memories were made in this place - blowing bubbles and running down the road in summer turned to smoking cigarettes and skateboarding, without any sound but asphalt under wheels and the flicking of lighters. Janis and I used to parade down these streets like we owned them back before GCSEs, cracking jokes and carefully watching the sun set, ready to discard half-smoked cigarettes and make our way back sharpish as to not get reprimanded by our parents. Back then, Jennifer didn’t even matter. It was Janis and I ruling the world. Until one fateful day. Mother got sick constantly yet still worked to feed her kids. One day she passed out at home. Took her to the hospital, she had ovarian cancer. It’s been three years since that day and things were never the same. Janis took over as head of the household, working for Jennifer and herself simultaneously. Dad fucked off years ago. He couldn’t be bothered to care for his kids, let alone his wife. Julie’s still on chemo to this day. Me and Janis fought as she caught the stress of providing for a family. “We have no time to fuck about, Leo.” She told me. “I have someone I care about. What about you?” What about me? I’ve got abusive parents, that’s what. Seems like in this neighbourhood nothing goes right for anybody.  
We’d reached her house. I didn’t say a word until the twins did. In unison, they said their goodbyes. So did I, turning on my heel and producing my keys ready to unlock the front door. What a putrid shade of green the wood had been painted. No doubt a choice made by my bitch of a stepmother. Reluctantly, I jammed the keys into the lock, turned and entered.


End file.
